Rotary engine.



G. HIDDEN.

' ROTARY ENGI-NE.' APPLICATION FILED MAY 27,1905.

Y y 2/ VMTA/ESSES V //Vl/E/VTOfi PATENTED JULY 21, 1908.

No. 898,801. PATENTED JULY 21,1908.-

G. HIDDEN. ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 27,1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

GEORGE HIDDEN, OF WAYLAND, MASSACHUSETTS.

I ROTARY ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 27, 1905.

Patented July 21, 1908.

Serial No. 262,559.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE HIDDEN, a citi- Zen of the United States,residing at Wayland, in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRotary Engines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to rotary engines, employing a rotary disk providedwith pistons in contact with the inside surface of a cylinder, the aXisof the disk being eccentric with that common to the cylinder and thepistons.

My invention has for its various objects the provision of first, a steamtight joint between the periphery of the rotary disk and the adjacentsurface of the cylinder; second, one or more ports connected with achamber formed in a part of the disk, to prevent objectionablecompression in said chamber; third, a steam port that can not be closedby the piston; and fourth, a balanced piston.

The steam joint commonly used between the disk and the cylinder is at apoint common to the surface of the disk and the cylinder, and isprovided with a block of packing material, but as each piston at thatjoint rubs across the packing, and therefore tends to wear it out, ithas to be narrow, because, if it is not, it touches the disk for such adistance on each side of the point of contact between the disk and thecylinder, that it extends up into the space between the disk andcylinder, lies in the path of the end portions of the pistons and istherefore soon destroyed, tends to stop the pistons and hence theengine, and uses up in wasteful friction much valuable power. Now bymeans of the first feature of my invention, theseobjections areovercome, by substituting for this point contact and packing between thediskand the cylinder, a depression in the inner face of the cylinder,the surface of which depression lies in an are having the same radiusand center as does the disk; in this way a comparatively wide packingsurface between the disk and the cylinder results, and lies outside ofthe path of the outer end portions of the pistons which always move in acircle having 'the same radius and center as does the inner surface ofthe cylinder. In short, contact between the pistons and the packing isutterly impossible. Y

The pistons of the above type, have by reason of the eccentricitybetween the centers of the disk and the cylinder, a movement relativelyto that of the disk; the inner end portions freely moving in suitablerecesses in the disk; but as each piston with a portion of a movablepart of the disk forms a chamber which is, comparatively speaking, steamtight, obviously any inward movement of a piston is resisted by theresistance offered by any air, steam, or liquid that there may be in thechamber, to compression; also there would be a tendency to resist anyoutward movement of a piston, because of a greater or less vacuumcreated in the chamber by such outward movement of the piston.

By employing the second feature of my invention, viz. a port connectingthis chamber with the outside air, the objectionable compression,vacuum, or both, may be obviated.

In the operation of engines of the above type, a piston often stops overand completely covers the steam port, and hence to start the engine, thepiston has to be moved clear of the port, the reason being that thepiston is wider than the port. To overcome this serious defect, I havemade the port wider than the piston is thick, so that the port is alwaysopen to permit the passage of steam to one or two of the pistons.

The pistons formerly used have had their centers of gravity distant fromtheir pivots, and consequently, when in use centrifugal force has causedtheir pivoted bearing surfaces in the cylinder heads, and also theconnecting surfaces of the cylinder and the pistons, to wear, all ofwhich results in friction, wear, loss of power, and a shortening of thelife of the engine. By providing the piston with a counter-balance, sothat the center of gravity of the piston is at the pivoted center, thesetroubles are greatly reduced.

Figure 1 is an elevation, showing my invention, when the cylinder headis removed, and the cylinder is sectional on line 11, Fig. 3. Fig. 2 isa perspective view of a balanced piston. Fig. 3 is a reduced verticallongitudinal section, on line 3-3, Fig. 1, the piston being left insolid lines. Fig. 4 is a reduced elevation showing the inside face of acylinder head, with counter-balanced pistons, partly in section, mountedin their respective grooves; and an air passage. Fig. 5 is a perspectiveview of a cylindrical part or plug for a piston.

In the drawings illustrating the principles of my invention and the bestmodes now known to me of employing those principles, a cylinder 1, isprovided with suitable heads 2, 2, mounted upon a base 3. A shaft 4 fortransmitting power, and suitably supported as by bearings not shown inthe drawings, extends through the heads 2, 2, and the inside of thecylinder 1, and has fixed to it, in the cylinder, a circular disk 5; theaxis 6 of the shaft 4, being eccentric to the axis 7 of the insidesurface of the cylinder 1.

r In the inner surface of the cylinder 1 is a depression 8, the surfaceof which is concentric with and has the same radius and axis as doesthat of the disk. It will be noticed that the eccentricity of the sh aft4, in its relation to the axis 7 of the cylinder 1, is such that aportion of the disk 5 lies outside of the curvature of the insidesurface of the cylinder 1, shown by a dotted line Fig. 1.. Between theseparallel adjacent surfaces of the disk 5, and the depression 8, ispacking 9, adjustably held against the contacting surface of the disk,as by spring 10.

Pistons, 11, 12, 13 are mounted equi-distant apart in suitable recesses14, 15, 16, in the disk 5, and also pivotally mounted in circulargrooves 17, 18, 19, Figs. 3 and 4, in the cylinder heads 2, 2. Eachpiston, see Figs. 2, 5, comprises a bar 20 extending across the entireperipheral face of the disk 5 rings 21, 21 connected with the bar 20 andengaging its respective groove, 17, 18, or 19, in the cylinder heads 2,2, the center of each ring and groove being in the axis 7 of thecylinder 1; and a counter-balance 22, of such weight, fixed to itsrespective ring, and located at such a distance from the center 7 of therings, as will counter-balance the weight of the bar 20 of its piston.The pistons 13, 14, 15, are alike, except that their respective rings 21and grooves 17 18, 19, in the cylinder heads 2, 2, are of differentdiameters to enable the pistons to be mounted in the faces of thecylinder heads. Each piston is operatively con nected with the disk 5,by a slotted cylindrical part 23, mounted in a cylindrical chamber 24 ofthe same diameter and extending the full width of the disk 5, the bar 20of the piston playing in the slot 25 of the part 23, see Figs. 1, 3 and5. A groove 26 is cut in the cylindrical part 23, Figs. 1, 3, 5, so thatit opens into the bottom portion of the slot 25, and also into a passage27, cut in the inner face of the cylinder head 2, and open to the air.It is desirable, as is shown, to have two of such grooves 26 in eachcylindrical part 23, and also two passages 27, one in each cylinder head2, but plainly one will suffice. A steam port 28, Fig. 1, is provided,and its size is so proportioned that a piston can never completely closeit; the thickness of the former being less than the width of the latter.v

For the sake of clearness, and also as valves operating the ports, meansfor operating the valves, and a few other well known parts form no partof my invention, they are omitted.

The operation of the various features of my invention are as follows:Assuming that the engine is taking steam through the port 28, and thepiston 12 is in the position shown in Fig. 1, steam forces the pistons12 and 13 about their center 7, in the direction indicated by the arrow,and the pistons in turn acting through the cylindrical part 23 in thedisk 5, cause the latter, and consequently the power transmission shaft4, to turn. As the piston 12 continues in its movement about its center7, more and more of its surface is exposed to the action of the steam,until it reaches the position occupied by piston 13, when, as the pistonmoves on, less and less of its surface is exposed until it passes by theintersection 29 of the cylinder surface and the surface of thedepression 8; the steam, of course, exhausting at exhaust port 30, themoment the piston passes it. Each piston operates in the above manner.

It will be plain that, after the extreme outward movement of the pistonin its relation to the disk, the bar 20 of the piston begins to approachthe bottom of the slot 25, Figs. 3, 5, in the cylindrical part 23, andbegins to tend to compress any air, or steam that may be confined in thechamber formed between the bar 20 and the walls of the slot 25 in thepart 23 but as this compression is not very appreciable until the pistonhas reached, say, the position of the exhaust 30, the passages 27 in thecylinder heads 2, 2, are shown as becoming connected with the grooves26, and hence the said chamber, after that time. When this connection ismade the compression is relieved, and any liquid, as condensed steam, ispermitted, by its own weight, to flow out of chamber, through thegrooves 26, passage 27, and away from the engine. It will also beapparent that each of the pistons, after it has passed the line ofintersection 29, between the surfaces of the cylinder 1, and thedepression 8, recedes within the periphery of the disk 5, the ends ofthe pistons describing the path indicated in dotted line in Fig. 1, butat this moment, the periphery of the disk 5 comes opposite, and intointimate proximity with the surface of the depression 8, and the packing9; the outer end portions of the piston being distant from, and insideof the periphery of the disk, thus avoiding all chances of interferingwith the wide steam joint formed between the packing 9, and the disk 5;and not emerging through the periphery of the disk until it reaches theother intersection 31 of the surface of the depression 8, and the insidesurface of the cylinder 1. As the thickness of each piston, see Fig. 1,is less than the opening of the port 28, the port is always open for thepassage of steam to one or two of the pistons, and a piston therefore,cannot so stop as to close the port and thus require aid, outside of theengine, to start the latter.

The operation of each balanced piston is plain. The only frictionretarding the movements of the piston is due to the weight of thepiston; the wear on the rings, cylinder, and pistons, due to the veryrapid revolu tions of the pistons, is reduced to a minimum the life ofthe engine is greatlypro- -longed, and for a given amount of steam used,the efiiciency of the engine is increased. Having described all thefeatures of my invention, and desiring to claim them in the broadestmanner legally possible,

What I claim is:

1. In a rotary engine, a piston rigidly connected to bearing rings, andcircular grooves therefor in the cylinder heads of the engine.

2. In a rotary engine, a piston provided with bearing rings; circulargrooves therefor in the cylinder heads of the engine; and a weightsecured to each ring whereby the piston is counter balanced in itsbearing.

3. In a rotary engine, a multiplicity of pistons, each of which isprovided with bearmg rings; channels cut in the cylinder heads of theengine for the reception of these rings; and a weight for each ring.

4. In a rotary engine, a disk; a cylindrical member mounted in saiddisk, and having a longitudinal slot throughout its length a piston madeup of a bar operatively connected to two bearing rings, said bar beingfree to move transversely in said longitudinal slot; and a port wherebyno compression can take place in the chamber formed in said member bythe piston and the sides of said longitudinal slot.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE HIDDEN.

Witnesses:

E. F. UNiAo, F. J. V. DAKIN.

